Oriental Interlude
Oriental Interlude is the 9th short story in the anthology , published in June 1953. The main story takes place in a remote valley among the mountains of Transcaucasia north of northern Iraq and is narrated in retrospect in a R.A.F. staff college, presumably in the U.K. Synopsis "The trouble with modern war is that romance has utterly departed from it," says an adjutant of an R.A.F. staff college. His superior, a Group Captain, disagrees and tells a story of how Flying Officer Brayling got thrown out of the cockpit of his aircraft far away from base and returned which much more than anyone could have imagined. Plot (may contain spoilers - click on expand to read) Responding to a comment by his adjutant that romance had gone out of modern war, a Group Captain, commandant of a staff college, tells the story of the time he was in command of a communications squadron in northern Iraq. One of his pilots, Oliver Mayes, had just returned from a ferry flight with a Reliant two seater from Russia carrying an important despatch. To the Group Captain's surprise, the rear cockpit, which should have contained his fellow pilot Flying Officer Dennis Brayling, was empty. Oliver said he had to execute a violent, steep turn to avoid a mountain peak. Dennis must have fallen out of the cockpit then. Dennis could not be found despite a search and was subsequently posted as missing. Six weeks later, a man dressed in an exotic oriental costume was seen approaching the airfield leading a camel. It's Dennis, with a princess, Dilara bin Lulu! Dennis had been thrown out of the cockpit but had managed to deploy his parachute. He landed in a lush garden where a beautiful girl was reclining on a couch. To Dennis, it seemed he had died and was living a dream. The girl saw him and screamed and hurriedly pulled on a veil. Two eunuchs grabbed Dennis would have cut off his head with their scimitars but he called: "Let me explain!" To his surprise, the girl could speak English. They bring him to see the prince. The ruler of that principality in that isolated remote mountain valley was Prince Yamshid bin Lulu and it turned out that he could speak English too. In fact he was English, by the name of John Mosten. Like Dennis, he had also fallen into the valley by accident and couldn't leave. The only possible exit was up a steep 200 ft rock wall and then down a sheer cliff but there was an encampment of a hostile Mongol tribe on the other side who regularly killed all intruders. Mosten had tried for seven years to escape but gave up. Eventually he succeeded the ruling prince and had been there for some 40 years. He married a Circassian woman. The girl Dennis had met was the Prince's daughter, Princess Dilara. As she had been seen unveiled by a man, by local custom, he must marry her or else both must be executed. Given little choice, Dennis chose to marry her. After some time they really fell in love with each other but Dennis still wanted his freedom. One day, while standing near the rock wall, he heard shots. He climbed up and saw that the Mongol camp had been taken over by some Cossacks. One of them could speak English and he learnt that the German advance was coming close and the Russian troops had moved in to lay a field telephone line. This gave Dennis the chance to make his escape from the valley. With the Prince's blessing, and plied with a generous dowry, he brought the Princess out of the valley, hitched a ride in a lorry to Azerbaijan and from there, bought a camel and made the rest of the way back to Northern Iraq. Characters *Unnamed Group Captain at an R.A.F. staff college - presumably the commandant. He narrates the story. *Unnamed adjutant *Oliver Mayes *Flying Officer Dennis Brayling *Princess Dilara bin Lulu *Prince Yamshid bin Lulu Aircraft *Reliant - here described as a two seater for a communication squadron. Could well be the same Reliant type used in Worrals of the W.A.A.F.. Ships No ships appear in this story Places Visited *An R.A.F. staff college *Golcha - an R.A.F. advanced landing ground in Northern Iraq *Bashan Pass - Golcha is located at the head of this pass. Compare Valley of the Tartars in Biggles Foreign Legionnaire. This valley is also at the head of the Bashan Pass. Mentioned *Tiflis - today known as Tblisi *Baku *Erivan *Azerbaijan Research Notes *The story ends with Russian being drawn into the Second World War so it must have taken place after 1941. *The narrative device of using a Group Captain at R.A.F. staff college telling a story in retrospect also happens in Teak-Wallah. Publication History References Category:Short stories Category:Other short stories Category:Adult short stories